Golf takes on a swashbuckling image with opening of course

Adventure Golf, which is based in Bedale, North Yorkshire, plans to broaden golf’s horizons by creating attractions with a pirate theme. It hopes to attract a new generation to the game.

The company, which is a designer and creator of themed golf courses for retail and tourist destinations, has launched a new Miami-style golf course after securing a £120,000 loan from HSBC.

The golf course, which is Adventure Golf’s first site, is based at Cadbury, a Wyevale Garden Centre near Congresbury, in Bristol.

A spokesman for Adventure Golf said: “The business has strong growth plans and expects the site to turnover upwards of £200,000 in its first year.”

The start-up business has used a combination of HSBC financing and an Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) to launch the site.

It expects to roll out nine additional golf courses across the UK by the end of 2017.

Aimed mainly at families, all of the sites, including the golf course at Cadbury, will offer ricochet-style golf where the ball constantly remains in play.

The spokesman added: “The sites will also feature adventure-themed visuals such as dinosaurs and pirates, as well as rafts and caves to allow a range of creatively designed spaces for players to explore.”

The construction of the golf course led to the creation of 12 jobs.

Neil Kimberley, the commercial designer and owner of Adventure Golf, said: “While running a golf course can be very profitable, it takes significant investment to bring it to life, especially for a start-up like Adventure Golf. HSBC has enabled us to do just that.

Phil Look, HSBC’s area director for business banking in North Yorkshire, said: “We are committed to supporting British start-ups like Adventure Golf realise their growth ambitions, and it is good to see a small business come up with a proposition that can really cater to the UK’s growing leisure market.

“The new golf course in Bristol is a unique project that has immense potential for growth, and we are proud to help it take its first steps towards success.”

A spokesman said that the financing is part of HSBC’s £850m commitment to supporting SMEs across Yorkshire.